Chairman in Speech Reviews Conditions in the Far}
East: Guarantees of S.M.C. Rights Needed (Ti speech made by the chairman of the Hongkong & Shanghai Bank, Mr, G. Miskin, at the annual meeting held in the offices of the corporation, 1 Queen's Road Central, Hongkong on February 26, follows.
Since our last annual meeting, a Knighthood has been conferred upon Si Vandeleur Grayburn by His Majesty the King.
During a period of unprecedented difficulty Sir Vandeleur has been both a tower of strength to the bank and a wise and able counsellor in the financial affairs of the Colony.
Tam sure that you will join me in congratulating him very warmly upon the well-deserved honour which he has received.
'The report and statement of accounts having been in your hands for the required period, I will, with your permission, take them as' read. "After making full provision for all known losses and contingencies, the net profits for the year amount to '515,482,210.84 to which must be added '$3,340,789.04 brought forward from Inst year, 'After deducting the interim divi-dond of £400,000 pald at 1/2% and Directors' remuneration, there _remains available for distribution $12,- dominated the political scene. He mentioned that negotiations between the two countries were, when he spoke, in suspense as a result of the Sian incident when General "Chiang Kal-shek was kidnapped. That affair, now appears, was a key-point in Sino-Japanese relations. The result was an accession of strength to those Chinese who, rightly or wrongly, saw no hope of ce-operation with Japan and advocated a policy of stern resistance to aggression.
12754235 which it is proposed to deal with as follows—
To, pay a final dividend of dedubton of income ta)
share "oubject, planater to Bank Premises forward' to. Now "Ao The Agures of our balance sheet have been converted at 1/2%, the same as last year, 80 a comparison in easy matter once more.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.